Towing arrangement for canal and river vessels.



E. o. NIKEL, I` l RANGEMENT POR CANAL AND RIVER. VBSSELS.

TOWING AR APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23, 1908.

Patented Dec. '7, 1909.

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UNTER@ @TATE PATENT @Fldllit EMIL OSKAR NIKEL, OF TAWORZNO,AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

TOWING ARRANGEMENT FOR CANAL AND RIVER VESSELS.

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To all whom it 'may concern.

Be it known that I, EMIL OsKAn NIKEL, a subject of the Emperor ofAustria-Hungary, residing at Taworzno, Galicia, in the Empire ofAustria-Hungary, have invented new and useful improvements in TowingArrangements for Canal and River Vessels, of which the following is aspecification.

The present invention relates to a towing device for canal and rivervessels which aims at an uninterrupted and easy forward movement of theboats by eliminating all jerking and undue straining of the rope, aswell as greater economy in working by means of a saving in power withrespect to the forward motion of the stretching device, e'. e. thedevice at the forward end of the towing rope which keeps the portion ofthe rope in advance of the fixing stations or posts taut and carries italong the tow-path, and the invention is intended as an improvement inthe device described by an endless rope being wound around a pulleyfixed on board the vessel and around another pulley moving in a forwarddirection on the towing path.

In the present invention two ropes wound on special drums on board thevessel and on the forwardly moving stretching devicev are used which arealternately attached to the fixing stations or posts situated at regulardistances from each other on the tow path.

The towing arrangement is shown in the drawing in which- Figures 1-6show diagrammatically the positions of a ship during forward movementand Fig. 7 shows the winding of the rope on the ships drums, and on thepulleys of the stretching device.

The stretching device A for the forward movement of the ropes consistsof two drums 3 and 11, the former having a lower rope and the latter anupper one. The drums and stretching device are applied in any waysuitable to the work in hand and are moved forward either by land or bywater.

B indicates the drums on board the vessel. They consist of a rope-drum 1with upper rope, and a second rope-drum 2 with lower rope.

5, 6, 7 and 8 are the driving wheels for drinn 1 and 9, 10, 11, 12 thedriving wheels for drum 2.

16, 17 is a stationary compound steam engine for driving drum 2, 14 and15 being Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 23, 1908.

the driving engine for drum 1. To allow Patented Dec. 7, 1999.

Serial No. 464,039.

both driving engines and therefore both drums 1 and 2 being coupledtogether a friction clutch 13 is provided.

c, l and e show the fixing stations or posts on the banks of the river.

Each rope consists of a drawing line and a loose-line, which are joinedtogether with a connecting-link or a loop 18, 19. A

The method of working in towing is as follows: in Fig. 1 the two drivingengines are coupled by means of the friction clutch 13, the drawing line20 is fastened at the station c, by means of the connecting link 18, andthe vessel is brought up to station c, by the rotation of drums 1 and 2.While so doing, the drawing line 21 winds olf drum 2, and the loose line22 is wound on to drum 1 of the stretching device, in consequence ofwhich the connecting link 19 is brought to station l and attachedthereto (Fig. 2.) rEhe clutch 13 is now disengaged and drum 2 reversed.Drum 1 continues working as aforesaid and the drawing lines 20 and 21are wound on to drums 1 and 2 respectively. (Fig. Drum. 1 is nowreversed and clutch 13 engaged with drum 1, the rope being wound olf,while on drum 2 it is wound on; the connecting link 18 is loosened fromthe station c (Fig. 4) and brought on to station e, by the winding up ofthe loose line 23 on drum 3 of the stretching device, and here link 1Sfastened (Fig. 5). Clutch 13 is hereupon disengaged as before and drum 1reversed. The drawing lines 20 and 21 are wound at the same time ondrums 1 and 2, until drum 2 is reversed, whereupon after clutch 13 isengaged, the drawing line 20 is further wound on to drum 1, thuscarrying the ship on again, while drawing line 21 is wound from drum 2.The connecting link 19 is loosened from station CZ and carried on to itsnext station by the winding up of the loose line 22 (Fig. (3). In thisway the forward movement of the vessel is constant, and it is apparentthat the vessel is kept in continuous movement while loosenings of thedrawing line by the attendant on the change of stations are absolutelyfree from undue straining and jerking of the rope.

An important advantage is obtained in the fact that the loose line ofany rope can be lighter than the drawing line, and that the loose lineis keptmoving forward, while in the wound up state, on the stretchingdevice.

I declare that what I claim is:

1. Towing device for canal and river vessels, comprising two drawinglines of strong resistance, wound on separate drums on a vessel, meansto turn said drums at will in the same and opposite directions, fixedstations at suitable distances from each other along the tow path, meansat the free ends of the drawing lilies to tie them at said stations,loose carrying lines, extending from the end of each drawing lineforwardly, and a traveling drum adapted to take up said carrying lines,one as a lower strand and the other as an upper strand, substantially asdescribed.

2. Towing device for canal and river vessels comprising two drawingllines of strong resistance, wound on separate drums on a vessel,reversible motors for each drum and a clutch to couple the drums, fixedstations at suitable distances from each other along the tow path, meansat the free ends of the drawing lines to tie them at said stations,loose carrying lines of lighter cross section than the drawing linesextending from the end of each drawing line forwardly and a travelingdrum adapted to take up said carrying lines, one as a lower strand andthe other as an upper strand, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

EMIL OSKAR NIKEL.

/Vitnesses:

HUGO L. NIKEL, EDWARD STEINER.

